Elf on the Shelf Naughty Letter

So my kids have had some trouble minding mommy and daddy, so we had Buddy (our elf) bring a letter back from Santa with a warning.

It has worked wonders!!! So if you are doing the Elf on the Shelf and your kids need a sweet reminder, then I hope that you give this a try!

Here is the elf that visits our house!!

Game Time

It's that crazy busy time of the year.... it seems like it takes me a good chunk of the month to get things ready for our family Christmas Eve Party.  Maybe I need to start assigning some things out to the rest of the family, and spread the LOVE around. Haha    I wanted to play this game this year, I had read about how they had wrapped different things up in tape to form a ball- but I thought that might be a little tricky or sticky, so I decided to try using plastic wrap instead.  We'll see how it works!   First I bought all kinds of things..... 

Socks, gum, tissues, nail polish, shaving cream, clippers, popcorn, gluesticks. bandaids, slinky. whoopie cushion, chapstick, binki's ect. there are a few GIRL toys in there... we have NO girls yet, so the little boys will think thats fun! Here is a great bundle that I found on amazon that would work PERFECT for this game!

then just take something, this is a small bottle of lotion- and start wrapping the plastic around it

as I wrapped, I twisted the roll of plastic to help tighten around the object better & get it to form a ball shape better

the plastic broke a few times so I cut it, and put a piece of tape around it in a few places... then started wrapping the plastic wrap around it again.

it gets pretty big, this isn't quite finished, I have 20-25 more things to wrap up... but hopfully you get the idea.  Then On Christmas Eve- we will sit in a circle on the floor and take turns rolling dice trying to get doubles. The person that rolls doubles gets to start unwrapping the ball, and they keep anything they unwrap-- the person next to them starts rolling the dice until they get doubles- then they take the ball and start unwrapping... I think it will be a fun game we can play with the adults and kids together!!  I wish I had played it once to let you know exactly how it works... but you'll just have to check back after Christmas and see.  Here's a tip... get wrapping early!!  ~Karen

Here is a great bundle from amazon that would be perfect for this game!!! 

Peppermint Trees

I was at the dollar store last week and saw these styrofoam cones- and bags of peppermints- so I thought I would try to make peppermint trees. 

 You need one 7 oz. pkg. of mints to do each tree.  Just unwrap each mint and starting at the bottom- glue each mint on with a hot glue gun... when you get to the top stack two on top. 

I glued 1 tree onto a glass candlestick and the other one onto a glass gobblet for the bases, tied ribbon around them & added a little bit of glitter to make them sparkle!!  They were very easy and quick to make-- and look perfect with the rest of my candy jars.

                                                                  ~have fun with them~ Karen

LDS Elf on the Shelf!

Having an elf on the shelf when you have young children is AWESOME! It's a positive reminder to be good! Honestly I think it's a good reminder for everyone. Being that I am a Latter Day Saint, I wanted to tie in the Savior with The Elf on the Shelf this year. To me Christmas is all about the gift that the Savior gave each of us and we are so quick to focus on what the world says Chirstmas is about. I have had a hard time finding a letter from Santa to the kids about the Elf on The Shelf that ties in Jesus so I kinda made my own after reading so many that are out there on the web. Keep in mind that my oldest is 6 so I didn't want to go into too much detail. It's just a sweet and simple letter.

You can read it by clicking on the image...

I got the Santa letterhead from design editor and most of the wording from lily & thistle. The gifts that I always include each year are pajamas and the trendy countdown calendar of the year! This year I got this countdown calendar...

from mama bear gets chatty. We bought the Elf on the Shelf that came with the book! 


I will be posting some of the elf on the shelf ideas that I got from all over! So stay tuned, are elf comes today when my oldest gets home from school!

It's begining to look like Christmas....

It's my FAVORITE time of the year!!  I like to get everything  done early, so I can set back and just take it all in!!!  So the decorating is done...

The table is set... with the same dishes I have had on the Christmas table for 20 years!  and Amazingly enough with 3 growing boys over the years, not one plate, bowl or cup has been broken!!  

the front door is covered with pictures of Christmases past!!  This is one of my favorite things...the Grand kids love it.

the snowball basket stays up all winter.... perfect for indoor snowball fights!!

and this..... is my JOY!!!

and this is the REASON for all the Joys, Peace and Blessings in my life... how grateful I am for this time of year to reflect on those things that are the most important to me.   I LOVE this time of year!! 

                                                                                          ~Karen

Christmas Jars

Oh I love this time of the year!!  I have been getting the house decorated, and today I started putting some candy into my jars!!

Here's a peek at how they turned out!! 






I Love the bubblegum



Merry Christmas!!   ~Karen

Peppermint Magic

It's that time of year... for Peppermint Magic!!  I love Peppermint, so every December when those candycanes start showing up in the stores- I put them in my food processor and crush them up into this   "Peppermint Magic"

put it into a jar and add it to all kinds of things... hot cocoa, chocolate dipped pretzels, caramel apples, cookies, frosting, cakes- whipping cream is my FAVORITE!!  It's easy and oh so yummy.  Here's the recipe for the Peppermint Magic Cream... we love this in our Hot Cocoa all winter long! ENJOY!!

Gingerbread Houses

First of all let me say.. I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, But...I thought I would show you some pictures from our last years Christmas Party-- we let the little boys decorate some gingerbread houses...   

 look how cute they turned out. 

I bought some of these wooden houses at Joanns for $1.00 each-

They were great- add some frosting & candy.....

and you have the CUTEST Gingerbread house.

The little boys LOVED making them this way, I will never go back to baking gingerbread- or puting graham crackers on a milk carton again!!

they were so easy & turned out so Cute- they could put 10 lbs of frosting & candy on them & they still stood up!! Try using the wooden houses this year and see if you like it better too!!

Peppermint Chex-Mix

Hi!! It's been a few days since you've heard from me, I wish I could say it's because I've been away on a SUNNY WARM island!!  But it's just been a busy, crazy week... I want to be done with all my Christmas shopping by the 30th of November- and I'm almost there-  

 A few posts ago I showed you some pictures from our Christmas Party last year, and this was one of the things I said I would share the "how to's" on.  It's our favorite!  Peppermint Chex-mix... so here you go, it's very easy and oh so good!  

I like to embellish it a bit for presentation, so in the recipe when you add the last 1/2 of the peppermint- I also add some red & green sprinkles too. Then when you put it in your serving dish- put a few red & green gum drops & round peppermints on top... and you have a great little treat that says ENJOY!!

Last years Christmas Eve Party

YES!! I caved .... with the snow yesterday morning and more forecasted to come, I started thinking Christmas!!  I know you are saying NO NOT YET!!!   I am with you, I am no where ready for Christmas talk!! But you can never start thinking about it too soon.  :)   

here are a few pictures from our Christmas Eve Party last year.

when my boys were young & living at home, we had a tradition.... every year we went shopping and everyone got to choose 2 of their favorite things to eat for our Christmas party!!  Jell-o is still a favorite.

lot's of favorites = lots of food!!

I added a few extra things too! I will post how to make some of these a little later ( or closer- to Christmas)  ;)

Family & food.... they are two of my FAVORITE things!!  And they always seem to go together!  LOL

The hot chocolate bar is always a hit!!  We love the coco-motion.  You can't really see them, but the rims of the glasses are dipped in chocolate & then rolled in crushed up peppermints.  Oh I want some now!!!!

Santa hats... made with strawberries & a cream cheese mixture-- I'll post more on how to make these later.

Peppermint Chex Mix!!  This one will be YOUR new FAVORITE!!   I will post the recipe for this one soon too! 
So there's your little bit of Christmas in October!!